Glasgow's Fight For Equal Pay


My contacts in Glasgow City Council (GCC) tell me that furious activity is taking place behind the scenes to identify more council owned property to use as collateral against another big loan - so the council can meet its obligations on equal pay.

Now I'm all in favour of GCC paying the workers what they're due - not least because the council's discriminatory pay arrangements which were condemned as 'unfit for purpose' by the Court of Session in 2017 are still in place in 2022.

And until the council brings in a new, fit for purpose pay scheme thousands of workers continue to have equal pay claims - going forward to 2023, 2024 and beyond.

Meanwhile the Glasgow council tax payer is footing the bill - even though Scotland's public spending watchdog (the Accounts Commission) judged Scottish Ministers shared responsibility for 'a decade long failure of leadership' over equal pay back in 2017.

So it seems monstrously unfair to me that the people of Glasgow are doing all the heavy lifting and that SNP Ministers who have been in power since 2007 are not being asked to help out.

SNP, Glasgow and 'Rocking the Boat' (April 03, 2022)

 

Glasgow City Council faces another huge £250 million bill to finance yet another 'interim payment' in its long-running equal pay dispute - which is on top of the £500 million paid out in 2019.

The final bill is likely to top £1 billion before the City Council finally replaces its discriminatory WPBR pay arrangements which were condemned as 'unfit for purpose' by the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court as far back as 2017.

Now in 2017 Scotland's public spending watchdog, the Accounts Commission, concluded that Scottish Ministers were responsible for this 'decade long failure of leadership' over equal pay along with local councils like Glasgow.

So why is the SNP leader of Scotland's largest council so reluctant to bang on the door of the Scottish Government to ask for help in finding a way out of this awful mess - is there a reason local politicians are afraid to rock the boat?

Because it's unfair for the burden to be falling entirely on council tax payers in Glasgow.



Popular posts from this blog

LGB Rights - Hijacked By Intolerant Zealots!

Image
Now that we're a month away from the month formerly known as June, we can think about what's happened. Given the new events being rolled out in London, Manchester and across the States, I think this sums up the *erm* transition of Pride. H/T @LGBNOW pic.twitter.com/HL87yIXXHg — Fred Sargeant (@FredSargeant) August 2, 2023 No doubt about it - the once proud campaign in support of lesbian and gay rights has been hijacked by intolerant trans zealots!     
Read more

SNP - Conspiracy of Silence

Image
So here's the issue - two Glasgow MSPs (Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf) have been asked a reasonable question about their use of public money to employ two SNP councillors who already have full-time, salaried jobs as senior elected members of Glasgow City Council.   But these two public servants (both long-serving ministers) refuse to answer, so what to do next? One regular reader suggests raising the matter on the floor of the Scottish Parliament which is a good idea, but requires an MSP who's prepared to put down a written question for Scottish Ministers to answer. So here's a list of activities which will help shine a light on what has been going on because as Lord Nolan once said apropos driving up standards in public life - 'daylight is the best disinfectant'. Write to the leader of Glasgow City Council Write to the Chief Executive of Glasgow City Council Write to all elected members in Glasgow City Council Write to the party leaders in Glasgow City Council W
Read more